L. MathekaWanjala calls for sanity as Strathmore continue unbeaten run
Reading Time: 2min | Wed. 29.06.22. | 16:36
The varsity side is up against Rangers in their next fixture.
Edgar Wanjala was one of the standout performers for Strathmore University this past weekend as the side picked two close yet crucial victories in the Kenya Handball Federation (KHF) men’s league.
The shot-stopper constantly frustrated both General Service Unit (GSU) and Buccaneers, the varsity side’s opponents for the weekend, denying them numerous scoring chances and in the process helping the Peter Mwathi led side pick 27-25 and 20-18 wins respectively.
However, Wanjala believes the team has the potential to do much better if they got their act together and reduced the number of punishments on the court as that has unnecessarily crippled them in crucial moments.
“Our endurance, fighting spirit to the last whistle and following the coach’s instructions have been our biggest assets so far, helping us win five matches in a row.
However, winning is about goals and we have had good defense that has helped our offense tremendously and we are able to score goals. We have played as team and while the rest do their job, I have worked to give them the same cover by save those shots as best as I can,” offered Wanjala.
Against GSU, Mwathi’s charges had seven two-minute suspensions that would translate to 14 minutes of the match when the varsity side was playing with a player less, if none of the punishments overlapped.
The statistic against Buccaneers shows 11, including three for Allan Simiyu who had to watch the last six minutes of action on the sin-bin after collecting three such suspensions. Without the overlaps, Strathmore would be playing for 22 minutes, almost an entire half of the match, albeit not consecutively, with less personnel, opponent’s own punishments notwithstanding.
“We had two tough matches in the past weekend but we were prepared. Despite the wins, playing with fewer players on the court due to these suspensions has been a real problem and we need to improve. It is affecting our performance,” added the shot stopper.
